


Influences

by littleghosthunter



Category: The Dolan Twins, youtube - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-06 04:32:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10325669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleghosthunter/pseuds/littleghosthunter
Summary: I will eventually change the title, but right now this is what currently fits.





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> I will eventually change the title, but right now this is what currently fits.

Sparkling waters danced as far as the eye could see, a slight evening breeze rippling the surface as it carried the sultry smell of the ocean to shore. The setting sun gave the atmosphere around me an ominous aura as my cold gaze fixed on the red sky. Salty tears slithered down smooth porcelain skin as my deep-sea blue eyes stared into the waters below me. I sat tucked into a corner of the long abandoned pier staring into the blue abyss as I contemplated my entire life leading up to this very point. My mind could not find peace long enough to focus on anything other than death. 

The cold waters called to me, tempting me into the waters sweet embrace. It made me wonder, ‘what would be the best way to die?’ If I jumped into the waters right now, would I be able to not fight it? Let the waters sweep me up, dance around me, and comfort me until my very last moments. What were the chances that if I jumped into those waters that a shark would find it’s way close to shore and end me? It might be painful but it’d be over faster than suffocating under the surface of the ocean. 

I know I wanted to be by the ocean with my final breaths because the ocean was the one thing I loved, the one place I could find momentary peace away from the insanity that is my world. As I turned my head to gaze down at my shoes the hard splintered wood brushed against my forehead, brushing back the strands of hair that tickled my nose and upper lip.

By now the tears had soaked into the collar of my shirt, leaving salty trails down my cheeks and neck. Propping my hand on the railing above my head I slowly rose from where I had tucked myself out of sight, dropping the bag that rested on my back to my feet. The rope I had tied to the pier dangling a few feet from me, swaying in the wind.

It’s promise of permanent peace drawing me closer until all I had to do was climb on the rail and place the rope around my throat. Slipping my shoes off of my feet I kicked them over to my bag, my jacket followed not long after, leaving me in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Fondling the silver diamond studded dagger that dangled around my neck I bit back a sob. 

The day I received this necklace as a gift had been my last truly happy memory I could remember having, which was three years ago to this day. Plucking the ear buds from my ears I was instantly welcome with the soft lapping of the water on the wood that held the pier up, and the crashing of the waves hitting the shoreline. Tugging my phone from my pocket I powered the screen on one last time, deep down hoping to see a message from someone, anyone. As expected there was nothing that is what pushed my final decision. Carelessly tossing my phone over to my bag I pulled the rope up and dangled it over the rail so that it would be easily more accessible for me.

Hoisting myself up onto the railing I shifted until I was facing the ocean, looking down at the water that danced in the breeze. I didn’t bother writing a suicide note, there wouldn’t be anyone who cared or would miss me enough to read it. I doubt anyone would actually even notice my disappearance. Gripping the coarse rope I shakily raised it until I could lope the noose around my neck. After moving my hair out of the way I tugged the noose snug against my neck, tensing my neck involuntarily at the foreign feeling of the rough hairs rubbing against my skin.

All I had to do now was jump, than the noose would do all the work for me. Looking down at the rope I raised it before peering off at the almost gone sun. I wondered how long it would take someone to discover my body, if it would take someone hours, days, weeks…. Never? No one would notice I was gone so would they even search for a girl they had no clue to be missing?

Closing my eyes I turned my head away, trying to shake the thoughts from my mind. They quickly shot open at the sound of feet thudding down the old boards in my direction.

Snapping my head in the direction of the noise my eyes went wide; no one was supposed to know about this place. Or at least no one was supposed to be here. 

“Wait! You don’t have to do this!” when I turned to face the owner of the voice I was surprised to see a boy who matched the deep silky voice. Pursing my lips I dropped my gaze to his feet, tears began pooling in my eyes all over again threatening to spill over.

“I have to….” Was all I was able to come up with in reply. After I spoke a second set of footsteps thundered towards me but this time they stopped back further from where the other boy stood. I didn’t bother to look up, at the newcomer. My entire body tensed as the boys feet shuffled forward, he must have noticed because he stopped in his tracks.

“Look at me, please. I just want to talk to you, okay? Just talk.” Again another step forward.

“Don’t, please, just stay back..” I whimpered shifting uncomfortably on the railing.

“Alright, I’ll stay right here. Just talk to me,” his entire body shifted until he was sat on the pier, his knees bent slightly against his body and his arms resting on his knees. Something about how relaxed he was, how calm he was calmed me. 

Lifting my gaze I met his own brown stare, immediately shying away when out gaze met. Instead I distracted myself by taking in his appearance. He had shaggy brown hair a dash of color striped in the front, accentuating his brown eyes. My guess would be if I were close enough the added color would bring out either golden or a shade of green flecks hidden in his brown gaze. It framed his chiseled face almost perfectly, drawing your eyes up to his own with that flash off color in his hair. Clearly he was very well built, his muscles bulging even in his relaxed state. I could tell even as he was sitting that he towered over me, everyone did though seeing as I only stood at 5’4”.

“My name’s Ethan,” he spoke brushing his fingers through his hair, sweeping it off to the side and out of his face, “Ethan Grant Dolan. I’m 17, born on December 16th 1999. I was born in Long Valley, New Jersey along with my twin brother Grayson.”

My brows furrowed slightly, I didn’t understand why this complete stranger was telling me these things. A complete a stranger to him and he act as if he was about to dive head on into his life story, I actually understood why. I just didn’t understand why he cared to try; after all I was just some girl to him. Nothing more.

“I have an older sister, her names Cameron. My parents are Lisa and Sean Dolan-“

“E.” My eye’s snapped from the boy sat a few feet from me to the new voice. He hadn’t said it very loud, probably hoping that I wouldn’t hear but I did. My heart rate sped up and my eyes widened as reality crashed down around me, I was letting this boy into my head. His intentions were to convince me not to do, it was clear he was going to do everything in his power to stop me and I was going to let him.

Shifting my gaze away from the boy who resembled Ethan I allowed for the smallest hint of emotion to seep into my gaze, we both knew what I was about to do. “I’m sorry,” even as I’m about to end my own life I still apologize for something I could change but was to weak to do so.

“No, please don’t,” his own gaze turned pleading as he leaped to his feet. The first step he took in my direction is what pushed me to slide from the railing.

Time, for me, seemed to slow down. It seemed like an eternity that I was falling, the late even summer breeze caressing my face. It was oddly serene, the feeling of falling. I wasn’t scared nor did I get an adrenaline rush I just felt at ease. Slowly my eyes fluttered shut as I savored the feeling of falling until the very last minute when the rope snapped me from my serene state. A mangled gasp broke through my lips as my hands instinctively reached for the rope, clawing at it as it burned into my skin.

‘Don’t fight it,’ after a bit I managed to stop clawing at it, allowing my hands to dangle at my sides as slowly the supply of oxygen to my lungs got cut off. Every second that passed the sweet song the oceans song grew louder, and more enticing.

Shocks rippled through the rope, rubbing my neck raw. If it weren’t for the fact that I was beginning to lose consciousness I would have tried to find out the cause of this new sensation. 

Finally it stopped but I was accompanied with the feeling of falling all over again instead. This time it was so peaceful, this time I felt terrified because I knew it meant I had been cut down. The moment the warm waves enveloped me a gasp escaped my lips and I choked on a mouth full of water. The waters tossed me around under the surface, teasing me with glimpses of the moonlight as I struggled in and out of consciousness. Now that I had time to think about it I was terrified of dying, but because I tried to not allow myself time to think about it I couldn’t get scared and I couldn’t back out.

I forced my eyes open at the sound of something breaking the surface of the water; a shadowed figure swam towards me their hair dancing in the water. The last thing I remember before my world went black was the feeling of an arm around my waist and then being dragged to the surface.

***  
A pressure being applied to my chest causing me to jolt awake as my body shook roughly from my coughs, forcing the water from my lungs. Allowing a gentle hand to guide me to my side I squeezed my eyes shut and rested my forehead on my fore arm, taking deep gasping breaths to regain the air I had lost and to also calm my nerves. My wet hair stuck to my cheek the moment I rolled back over onto my back, slowly opening my eyes to peer at the figure that hovered over me. 

The moon was bright enough tonight that it illuminated his face, and I could make out every little feature on his face. Including the mole on his cheek. A crease formed between my brows as I stared up at him, my breathing slowing to my controlled normal breathing. Turning my head I looked to his hand that rested next to my head, the sight of feet shuffling in the sand a few feet away catching my attention. Following the feet up the body I looked to the twin boys face, studying what I could see from this distance. My gaze then fell to his arms where he cradled what looked to be my stuff but also someone else’s shirt, and shoes. 

Shifting my gaze back to Ethan that’s when I noticed that he was shirtless, a blush involuntarily formed on my wet cheeks. The feeling of water droplets hitting my face drew my eyes back to his face, watching him as he shook his fingers through his hair. Plastering the wet strands back out of his face as best as he could.

“Why?” I finally questioned, my voice coarse and low. Our gazes met the moment he looked down at me, confused flooding his features before he understood what I meant. A pained expression crossed his face.

“I don’t know how to explain it, when I saw you and then the rope dangling from the end of the pier and I put the two together… I just had this feeling. It’s a weird feeling, like the moment it clicked I knew I was supposed to be here and I knew I was supposed to save you…” he trailed off his gaze falling from my own, goose bumps formed on my arm the moment his hand, that wasn’t supporting his weight, touched it, “I didn’t hesitate in my decision to run up there and stop you.” His hand trailed from my shoulder down to my hand, leaving a trail of goose bumps where his fingertips touched. His large hand grasped my own, enveloping it in warmth.

As I stared up at him the tear that I thought had disappeared pooled in my eyes again, my bottom lip quivered as I turned my head away. “You should have let me die,” my voice was weak and sounded broken even to my own ears, “I was ready… it’s not like I have anything to keep me here, anyone to miss me. If I died I would be just a memory and even then people wouldn’t care enough to think about for longer than a second or two.”

Silent tears escaped, inflaming the skin they touched as they rolled down my face. His hand squeezed my own, “I’ve been gone three days now and I haven’t received a single text from my mom, I don’t have friends to notice my disappearance, no one in my life truly cares whether I exist or not.”

“What about your dad?” my hand he wasn’t holding moved to the dagger that still dangled around my neck, it’s cold metal burned against the rough cuts from the rope. 

“He died three years ago… today,” I whispered picking the small charm up between my fingers, the tears fell from my eyes faster than before blurring my vision. Dropping the charm I rubbed my eyes, hoping to stop the flow of tears.

His hand dropped my own, the feeling of losing the heat from his body caused me to turn my head back to look at him. I was not going to admit it out loud but his touch was comforting me, making me feel better and losing that feeling made me feel a bit desperate. Like loosing his touch, that one thing that kept me grounded at the moment, would cause me to spiral back and I would do something irrational.

As I gazed at him he was already looking at me, which caused our gazes to meet. Instead of saying anything he leaned forward latching onto my arm to tug me up enough so that he could slide his arm under my body. Automatically my body tensed at his touch, not sure what he planned to do. 

I held my breath, scared to breath as he pulled me onto his lap wrapping me in his arms. “It’s okay, ya know, to cry. I know that anything I say won’t make you feel better, and anything I say won’t change you’re life or how you feel. At least not yet, but it’s okay to cry,” he whispered glancing down at me. His hand brushed my cheek a few beads of sand that had glued to my wet face crumbling to the ground. 

My body responded to his words by doing just as he said, crying. The tears came so fast that I couldn’t even fight them. A sob broke from me as I curled up in his lap, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. His hand that had brushed my faced rested at the base of the back of my neck, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the exposed skin, as his other hand rested on the small of my back rubbing up and down.  
After a while my sobbing turned into small hiccups that quickly faded until just silent tears remained, and eventually those stopped and I was left curled up in his lap feeling better but still broken. 

“Does it hurt?” he whispered, my head snapped back and I furrowed my brows in confusion. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes before he realized I didn’t know what he was referring to. “This… You got some serious rope burn, and you’re bleeding a little bit,” he muttered as his fingertips faintly brushed the raw skin, a hiss escaped my lips at the contact causing him to quickly pull his hand away.

He opened his mouth to apologize but I cut him off before he could, “It-“ my voice cracked, being raw from crying so hard and so much, “It’s…. Nothing I can’t… Handle.” His brows drew together in worry his brow eyes searching my blue eyes for something, when he didn’t find what he was looking for he turned his gaze down to my wrists. Again not what he was looking for, but when he turned his attention to my thighs I could tell by the sharp intake of breath that he had found it that time.

Removing his hand from the back of my neck it hovered over my body as it made it’s way down to my thighs, littered with scars that were old and new. Ethan didn’t touch my thighs, probably to terrified to hurt me again. Instead his fingers traced the scars without actually making contact with the skin. There was a breath of air between his fingertip and my thigh.

Following his arm up to his face my head tilted slightly. He concentrated so hard on what he was doing, a pained expression settled on his face. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted more than anything to ask me every question on his mind right now, he wanted to voice every worry.

“My name, it’s Sondra,” my voice snapped him from his thoughts and his attention fell on my face.

A smile settled on his face, “Let’s get you somewhere warm that you can get cleaned up.” With out setting me down he rose to his feet cradling me bridal style in his arms as he turned and walked over to where his brother stood awkwardly a few feet away.

I didn’t have it in me to argue with him so I kept silent, choosing to just rest my head on his shoulder. Drifting off to sleep a couple minutes into the walk off of the beach.


	2. Chapter two

*Ethan’s pov

It had been a long day for Gray and I, we had to fit filming for our new video into our schedule alongside a photo-shoot that had taken longer than I would have necessarily liked. Normally a two-three hour photo shoot wouldn’t bother me, but it had been a nice day for the first time in the past couple of days and I was looking forward to going to the beach. That plan had gotten spoiled by having to film and edit our new video alongside the photo shoot.

I hadn’t given up though; I still wanted to go to the beach because the weather called for rain again the tomorrow. Which was disappointing but there wasn’t much I could do, it wasn’t like I could control the weather. That would be pretty cool if I could though.

“Should we go to the pier?” Grayson asked from the drivers seat.

“Where else would we go?” I chuckled settling into my seat, looking out the open window with a wide smile on my face.

“To bad the surf isn’t good today,” I didn’t have to be looking at Gray to know that he was shaking his head in disappointment.

“It is what it is, we can always jump off the pier and swim for a couple hours,” I mused nodding my head to the beat of the song that thumped in our speakers. Gray had been looking forward to going to the beach today just as much as I had been, and he had been even more excited at the idea of going surfing. Of course, Mother Nature was against us making sure there was little to no surf to be heard of today. The one nice day that has occurred in almost a week. We’ve had so much rain that you’d think we’d have drowned in it by now.

Buildings passed by in flashes of color, sometimes one would catch my eye and I would watch it until I could no longer see it out of the corner of my eye. Most of the time I just stared boredly out the window, sometimes unconsciously nodding my head to the beat of that song that blasted from the radio.

Eventually the beach came into view causing a lazy smile to form on my face. The red sunset reflected off the waters giving it a beautiful pinkish glow that rippled from the small breeze.

Though we could of very easily called it good and just set up camp here, gray and I knew of a place that had been abandoned. Sort of, people still went there obviously but it was no longer crowded with people like it probably had been at one point in time. This was only because it was actually kind of hard to get to and most people these days were to lazy to try and clear a path through the dense brush.

It was mainly used by teens that wanted to have a party without the interruption of adults, but also they wanted to get away with drinking illegally. Most of the time it sat abandoned which was what made it my favorite place to go. Especially when I just need to think, even if Gray were there with me. It’s nice to go alone once and a great while though.

The drive to the hiking trails took about twenty minutes after passing the beach. Gray parked the truck and cut the engine. We both got out and retrieved our things from the back seat of his truck before locking the doors.

“We’re lucky we know this trail so well otherwise getting to and from the beach would be a nightmare,” Gray breathed hoisting his bag up on his shoulder before turning towards the trails walking off ahead of me. A small laugh escaped me as I jogged to catch up with him.

“That’s also why there’s a thing called flashlights,” I teased removing the one I kept in my bag and clicking it on. Shining it in his face I chuckled as he shoved me away from him.

“Whatever, E,” he grumbled. If I would have been looking at him I’m sure I would have seen him roll his eyes at me.

“You set yourself up for that one,” I heard his huff of annoyance before watching him wonder ahead of me. Fishing his own flashlight from his bag. The smile on my face grew even bigger as I watched him. 

***  
It took us about thirty minutes walking from where we parked to get to the beach. During the day it may have taken us twenty to twenty-five minutes because we wouldn’t of had to face so many obstacles that seemed to jump out of nowhere during the night. We made it to the beach in one piece at least, so that’s what matters.

“E, I think someone’s here already,” Gray mumbled as he stared at the pier. My brows furrowed as I stepped around him, clicking off my flashlight and motioning for him to do that same.

Now that we were out of the trees the still setting sun offered us just a sliver of light. Squinting my eyes I peered at the dock, the first thing I noticed was something that swayed in the wind; it looked to be a rope to me. Following it up to the pier I searched for any sign of someone but I didn’t see anyone. 

“I don’t see anyone, and if there is I’m sure they wouldn’t mind sharing the beach for a few hours,” I shrugged dropping my stuff onto the sand.

My gaze drifted towards the pier again, this time I noticed a lone figure that stood against the far railing overlooking the ocean. Grayson had been right in saying someone was here, but something didn’t feel right about this. Kicking my shoes off a sudden determination struck me, and I found myself running to the pier.

The change of the soft sand to hard wood didn’t even register with my mind, nor did the worry that the old rough wood might splinter. Once it clicked in my mind what I was about to witness I knew there was a reason we had come here tonight.

“Wait! You don’t have to do this!” I stared at the girl that now sat on the railing, the rope dangling from around her neck. As I stared at her I could see how truly broken she was, the emptiness in her eyes, the way she held herself in a timid sheltered way. My heart broke for the girl as I peered at her. I wondered what could have possibly pushed her so far that she was teetering on the edge. 

“I have to….” My brows crinkled as I stared at her, I had barely even heard her speak. I probably wouldn’t have heard her if her voice hadn’t of carried on the wind. Licking my lips I took a couple small steps in her direction, ignoring the thundering steps of my brother behind me. Her whole body went rigid with my steps causing me to stop in my tracks.

“Look at me, please. I just want to talk to you, okay? Just talk.” I was hoping I could talk her down. That if I talked to her enough she’d open up and allow me to help her.

“Don’t, please, just stay back..” If ones heart could break for another person my heart would be in a million pieces at my feet right now. She sounded so weak, so broken. It tore me up inside.

“Alright, I’ll stay right here,” as I spoke I lowered myself into a sitting position on the wood, “Just talk to me.” Shifting, I positioned my feet flat on the boards so my knees were bent allowing me to rest my arms on my knees. My gaze never left the girls soft features, focusing one hundred percent on her.

For a moment our gazes met, and I tried as hard as I humanly could to show her with my eyes that I cared, that I was here for her, she just needed to open up but she shifted her gaze to fast. I had to bite back the sigh that wanted to escape. Instead of meeting my own gaze it was clear that she was watching me, or maybe studying me. ‘Memorizing the last person she may see on this earth.’ My heart wrenched at the thought and suddenly my panic grew. Luckily I managed to keep myself calm, understanding that because I was so composed was helping to keep her composed.

The girl had short hair; it probably fell to about her shoulder blades in thick tendrils. To me her hair looked to be a dark or medium brown at the roots and faded into a light sandy blonde/brown. Her face was soft, void of smile lines or creases. I couldn’t see her eyes from where I sat but if I had to guess they’d be a deep blue, or any type of blue. Her build was a bit on the thick side, clearly a bit heavier set than most girls I’ve come across in L.A. She was gorgeous nonetheless, despite her extra weight. Something about her took my breath away. It might have been the aura about her, she looked to be far wiser than one her age would be and that intrigued me.

“My name’s Ethan,” a small strand of my hair fell into my face as I shifted my gaze to peer directly into her face, so I reached up and brushed it back out of my face, “Ethan Grant Dolan. I’m 17, born on December 16th 1999. I was born in Long Valley, New Jersey along with my twin brother Grayson.”

Shifting around I tucked one leg under the other slightly, leaning forward on the other one unconsciously playing with the hem of the bottom of my shorts. “I have an older sister, her names Cameron. My parents are Lisa and Sean Dolan-“

“E.” As my brother spoke I felt my heart drop, I knew he was trying to be loud enough for only me to hear but he had been just a bit too loud. The dread crossed her features almost immediately after he spoke. From where I was I could see the gears turning in her head and immediately I knew what the results were going to be. Especially when her own gaze met mine, her eyes flooded with a million different emotions. All far to fast for me to read, and they were gone almost as soon as they had appeared. “I’m sorry.” I felt helpless, and desperate. 

I thought that I was making some ground with her, even just the smallest amount. “No, please don’t,” I could hear the desperation in my voice as I practically leaped to my feet, managing to keep my balance when I got a head rush from getting up a bit to suddenly. Once I composed myself my immediate thought was to get to her, but the first step I took in her direction is what drove her over the edge.

“Nooo!” I hit the railing full force, it being the only thing stopping me from going over the edge after her. “No no no no.”

“Ethan, I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, she- that she would,” I could practically hear his gulp as he stared at where she had been. I choose not to reply as I tried to form a way to get her down without harming her. Pulling her up wasn’t an option, it would just hurt her worse, maybe even kill her faster. My gaze shifted to her bag and instantly I was next to it digging around inside it for something, anything that could help.

That’s when I found it, the switchblade that had been buried at the bottom of her bag. “Gray!” I shouted scaring the boy, but catching his attention, “Cut her down.” When I handed him the switchblade he didn’t question me, he just gave me a nod of his head and took the blade from me.

As he worked on the rope I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it over to her stuff, along with my phone and any other thing that was in my pockets. Climbing up onto the railing I turned to peer at Grayson. He sawed at the rope, beads of sweat forming at his hairline. I could tell he felt bad, so much, that it was already eating him up inside. At first I wanted to nothing but scream at him for being so stupid, but I didn’t want to make him feel worse than he already clearly does.

I had zoned out to the point that I didn’t notice when the last hair on the rope had been cut, sending her body falling into the waters below. Her body hitting the surface of the water is what broke me from my thoughts. My gaze scanned the water hoping that maybe she’d burst through the surface, but after a few seconds of waiting I got anxious and already knew that she wasn’t going to survive much longer if I didn’t jump in after her.

Pushing off of the railing I spun my body so I was diving in the water, right into where her body fell. Opening my eyes I peered around, searching for her. I found her when the moonlight glinted off of something metal below me. Forcing my body deeper into the water I struggled to reach her, but when I did I wound my arm around her waist and kicked off the bottom of the ocean.

The moment I broke the surface I gasped for air before focusing on adjusting her so her head was out of the water. I could faintly feel her breath on the back of my neck, and every breath she took got shallower. 

“Just hold on, please, a little bit longer,” I whispered playing my hand out on her lower back, pressing her body to my own. Once I got to the sandy shore I carried her a few feet from the ocean before laying her down. I hover my ear over her lips knowing that I would feel her breath fan my wet ears if she was still breathing, but she wasn’t.

At first I panicked, completely forgetting all training I had gone through for a situation like this. I had forgotten even what it was called. I decided to let my instincts take over, because otherwise I’d think about it too much and then she would die.

Instinctively I placed my hands on her chest and pushed a few times, before tilting her head back, plugging her nose and breathing a deep breath into. I repeated this process about three times, by the fourth I had almost given up. When I pushed down on her chest and she jolted before coughing. An excited smile broke out on my face, I did it, I had saved her life.

I noticed that she struggled to get the excess water from her lungs, probably because she was laying on her back still. Placing my hand on her side I gently tugged her until she rolled onto her side. Pursing my lips I rubbed her side soothingly until she stopped coughing, only then did I retract my hand.

She stayed like that, resting her head on her forearm until she managed to calm her breathing, which was when she rolled over onto her back again. Leaning over her I peered into her face, almost jumping the moment she opened her eyes but instead I continued to stare at her face.  
For some reason she avoided my gaze, I guessed it was probably because she was ashamed. My gaze fell to the sand in-between us at the sound of Grayson’s approaching footsteps. He stopped a couple of feet away from us, clearly not wanting to have a repeat of earlier. Gray was probably going to be scared to get close to her because he was probably blaming himself for her going over the edge. Biting back a sigh I shook my clean hand through my hair, brushing it back out of my face. Most of the strand stuck back due to being wet, but some of the hairs still fell slightly in my face.

“Why?” her voice caught my attention, and as soon as I looked at her our gazes met. At first I was confused by what she was implying but then it quickly registered in my head. My brows crinkled as I forced myself to maintain her gaze.

I don’t know how to explain it, when I saw you and then the rope dangling from the end of the pier and I put the two together… I just had this feeling. It’s a weird feeling, like the moment it clicked I knew I was supposed to be here and I knew I was supposed to save you…” trailing off I allowed my gaze to fall from hers, lifting my hand from my lap I brushed off a stray strand of hair from her shoulder, “ I didn’t hesitate in my decision to run up there and stop you.” Trailing my fingers lightly down her arm, a miniscule smile formed on my face when I noticed the goose bumps forming on her arm where I touched. When I reached her hand I picked it up, noticing how cold her hand was I closed my hand around hers.

“You should have let me die,” my grip on her hand tightened and my brown eyes snapped to her face, “I was ready… it’s not like I have anything to keep me here, anyone to miss me. If I died I would be just a memory and even then people wouldn’t care enough to think about for longer than a second or two.”

I wanted nothing but to scream and shout at her, but then I also wanted to cry for her. It made me wonder how long she had carried these feelings with her, how long all these emotions have haunted her. She sounded so fragile, her voice a hollow memory of whom she once was.

When she started crying I wanted nothing more than to wipe those tears from her face, to remove all of her problems. Just be there for her. “I’ve been gone three days now and I haven’t received a single text from my mom, I don’t have friends to notice my disappearance, no one in my life truly cares whether I exist or not.”

“What about you dad?” she still didn’t meet my gaze, instead choosing to stare off into the distance. I watched her free hand move to grasp the metal necklace that had allowed me to find her. Now that I was this close to her I could make out the little charm that dangled from the chain. My brow rose at the sight of the diamond-studded dagger.

“He died three years ago… today,” my heart went out to the girl, it was clear that her dad had meant the world to her. Losing him is probably what caused this that was my guess at least. Her tears rolled down her face faster when she talked about her dad. Dropping her hand I sat back and brushed my hand on the side of my shorts, most of the sand fell from my hand, but a lot of it stuck to my shorts that were still a bit damp. Looking to her I waited for her to look up at me, when she did I reached forward and tugged her up enough that she was sitting slightly. From there I slipped my arm behind her back, ignoring her muscles that tensed in her body as I pulled her onto my lap.

My arm that wasn’t supporting her back wrapped around her, “It’s okay, ya know, to cry. I know that anything I say won’t make you feel better, and anything I say won’t change you’re life or how you feel. At least not yet, but it’s okay to cry.” Brushing my hand along her cheek I bit the inside of my cheek, pulling her closer as soon as the tears broke free. I rested her head in the crook of my neck, sliding my hand to rest at the base of her neck and being sure to rub soothing circles on the exposed skin.

Subconsciously I rocked my body back and forth, resting my cheek on the top of her head as my way of trying to provide her with as much physical contact as I could offer at the moment. Lifting my head I peered down at her, “does it hurt?” I questioned in a whisper, as I peered at the red burns that had formed on her neck. There were a few spots on her neck that had been cut open by the rope and were a bit bloody. “This… You got some serious rope burn, and you’re bleeding a little bit,” moving my hand from the base of her neck I hovered my fingers over the burns. Dipping my finger down to brush them the faintest bit, but I jerked my hand away at the small hiss of pain the slipped from her lips.

Instinctively, I opened my mouth to apologize but she cut me off before I could even utter a word. “It-“ I winced at how coarse her voice sounded, “It’s…. Nothing I can’t… Handle.” I already knew her words held a secret meaning, a secret that no one knew about. Staring deep into her eyes, I searched them for anything that would prove my suspicion right. When her eyes didn’t give anything away my eyes shifted down to her right wrist, there was nothing there. My gaze then shifted to her thighs and the moment my eyes fell on the rigid scars the world around me seemed to stop.

My hand that I had placed back on the base of her neck moved almost as if it had a mind of it’s own. Hovering over her body until it reached her thighs. I itched to touch the scars, trace them in hopes that they would rub away. Not actually be real, but I already knew they were. I didn’t want to hurt her by applying pressure to the wrong cut.

“My name, It’s Sondra.” Hearing her speak snapped me from my thoughts and drew my attention to her face.

I couldn’t help the soft smile that formed on my face, her name was beautiful, “Let’s get you somewhere warm that you can get cleaned up.” Shifting from my kneeling position in the sand I rose to my feet, cradling her in my arms as close to my body as I physically could. I could already feel the goose bumps forming on her body against my skin. Turning around I walked over to where Gray stood silently and awkwardly staring at his feet that he poked around in the sand.

Grayson offered me a towel that he helped me wrap around her before we fell silent and walked over to retrieve our stuff and then return to the truck. I rested her in the back seat of the truck before wrapping my self up in a towel and then climbing in with her. The ride back home was as silent as the walk to the truck.


End file.
